How often do you use book to Facebook to spread the word about a nonprofit? Many of us are involved with nonprofits, whether as employees, volunteers, or donors.

 

One Example: Warren Village

Recently I was helping a new client, a job seeker, to better understand Facebook, especially its business pages. I asked her where she would like to work. She said, Warren Village, a Denver nonprofit.

According to their mission statement on their Facebook Business page, “Warren Village exists so that low-income, single-parent families can achieve sustainable personal and economic self-sufficiency.” Here’s a link to their page: https://www.facebook.com/WarrenVillage/

As it turns out, I had taught some public speaking classes there many years ago. So, I showed her how to write a recommendation by writing one for Warren Village.

The next step was to show her how to share a post from a business page to personal timeline. To demonstrate that, I shared a post in which Warren Village requested donations of personal hygiene products to my timeline.

Just two days later, a woman approached me at an event, saying, “Didn’t I see you post on Facebook about a nonprofit needing some personal hygiene products?” Now, at this point, I didn’t even remember that I was Facebook friends with her. But I said, “Yes, that’s right.”

She went on to tell me that she had a bag of personal hygiene products in her trunk that she had been wanting to donate to a worthy cause. Then, she went right out to her car and came back to with the bag. Wow!

 

How to Use Facebook to Spread the Word About a Nonprofit

  • First, like the nonprofit’s business page on Facebook.
  • Then take a couple more steps. Click on the arrow next to Following, then on See First. Doing this will ensure you see future posts by this page toward the top of your news feed.
  • Ask your Facebook friends to like the page and click on See First.
  • Share posts from the page to your timeline and comment on why you shared them. Most likely, you have audience set to Friends for posts on your personal page. Be sure to change your audience to Public when you share this post. Doing that ensures the largest possible audience can see (and share) them.
  • If the nonprofit has an event posted, share it. Even if you can’t attend yourself, encourage your Facebook friends to go.
  • Write a recommendation through the Review function of their page.

 

How About You?

How have you used Facebook to spread the word about a nonprofit you support? What has been your experience? Did you have something unexpected happen as a result?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those ages 45 and older, to become more effective and productive using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.